Consultant - Education Practice at Oxford Policy Management

Programme:Social Policy Programme

Team/Dept:Education

Job Level:IC4

Reports to:Education Practice Leader

Primary Purpose:Management and implementation of education consultancy projects within individual’s region and globally

1.Background:

In the Education Practice, we are committed to high-quality, lifelong learning opportunities for all in low- and middle-income countries. We help education systems become adaptive, self-improving, and focused on building the skills, values, and attitudes needed to achieve development goals. The team works in the following technical areas:

Transforming education systems to ensure learning keeps pace with a changing world, including managing ‘Research on Improving Systems of Education’ (RISE);

Developing education assessments and metrics to better measure teaching and learning, including for our many complex impact evaluations of education programmes in Nigeria, Tanzania and elsewhere.

Improving education financing to ensure education resources are appropriate, efficient, effective and equitable, including delivering training on public finance for children;

Supporting governments in harnessing non-state actors in education and reforming early childhood development to ensure children are well prepared for later life, including a systematic review of what interventions work; and

Improving education equality to ensure no children are left behind, including building evidence on out of school children in the MENA and East Asia and the Pacific regions.

This role will join the Education Practice, based in either OPM’s Tanzania or Pakistan or Nigeria offices. She/he will work in close collaboration with the relevant country office director, while being directly line managed by the Education Practice Lead.

2.Job description summary:

• OPM is looking for an outstanding and highly motivated education specialist to join its Education Practice as a Consultant.
• The successful candidate will be eager to contribute to (and, in many cases, lead) the strategic direction, technical delivery and management of education consultancy projects, including project management, acquisition and sharing technical learning across projects.
• The successful candidate will manage project staff and achieve objectives for project impact and quality, business development, learning and external influencing.
• This role is based in the UK or international offices, with international travel as and when travel is possible in the context of COVID restrictions.

Person Specification

Technical qualifications and capabilities:

Qualification: Post-graduate qualification in a relevant discipline such as education, international development, economics, or development studies

Regional experience: Substantial experience and reputation within the individual’s relevant region in one or more topics within education

Consulting experience: Substantial previous experience working in middle / senior level roles in the consultancy space

Market awareness: Strong sector and market awareness of key education funders and trends; experience of winning new assignments in a relevant consulting environment for key clients e.g. FCDO, USAID, UN, EU, Foundations

Research and analysis skills: Experience in analysing and interpreting qualitative and quantitative data, and drawing out key themes and policy implications; Familiarity with research and evaluation methodologies;

Client management: Strong network within education sector regionally and globally; Experience of directly working within or with donor or government institutions in delivering technical work; Experience of managing technical and commercial discussions with senior government officials and staff of international aid agencies.

Management experience: Project and people management experience, preferably within a relevant consulting environment.

Communication: Ability to communicate effectively with colleagues and clients, both verbally and in writing.

Sector technical skills: Experience in one or more fields of education finance and planning, monitoring and evaluation, early childhood education, girls’ education, education in emergencies, and technical and vocational education.  

Language: Preferably, the ability to work in at least one relevant foreign language.

Behavioural capabilities:

• Excellent attention to detail and analytical rigour
• Switches comfortably between detail and the bigger picture, joined up thinking and approach to providing solutions
• Good at prioritising changing and competing demands and tasks, while consistently delivering quality work
• Excellent problem solving, organising and management skills
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills; collaborative and constructive approach to working with others, builds effective relationships internally and externally
• This is a full-time position. The role requires overseas travel.  

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.